


John Marston and the Flower Necklaces

by inshadesofblue



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: A short fluffy thing I wrote, Father-Son Cuteness, John is trying real hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-06-25 10:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19744036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inshadesofblue/pseuds/inshadesofblue
Summary: In which John spends some quality time with his son, and realizes that a little flower picking won’t hurt him.





	John Marston and the Flower Necklaces

“Your boy has been askin’ me all mornin’ when daddy’ll be ready to play!”

John pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and heaved a sigh before looking back at Abigail’s angry face. It felt like all that woman did was nag. It was exhausting.

“Jesus, Abigail! I’m doing the best I can!” John retorted. Well, not the best he could, but he had been trying. The other day he’d bought a toy train in Valentine, something he figured Jack would like. That had to count for something, right? 

“Yeah right, John! Poor boy doesn’t understand why his father can’t give him the damn time of day,” Abigail said, fists clenched. “Just- just play with him. Do something! Be a father to that boy of yours!”

“Fine!” Join raised his hands in surrender and took a large step back. “I’ll go ask him if he wants to play a game.”

Abigail unclenched her fists and gave him a stiff nod before sticking her chin in the air just slightly. “Well, alright then. Off you go.” She waved her hands in a shooing motion, motioning for him to leave. 

With another sigh, John turned around to go find Jack. Horseshoe Overlook wasn’t that big, he couldn’t have gone far. A selfish part of John wished the camp was bigger so that he could get out of game duty for a while. 

John did feel bad for not wanting to spend time with his son, but he couldn’t help it. He was restless, Valentine was so... quiet. So small, too. It was only a matter of time before luck ran out again and the gang had to move on. Besides, John had never been good at games. 

He eventually found Jack sitting on a log, examining a flower that he’d picked from a nearby bush. Jack looked up to the sound of his father’s footsteps, and smiled when he saw that John meant to talk to him. 

“Dad! I found these flowers,” he said, holding one up so that John could see. It was a small, blue flower, smaller than the palm of Jack’s tiny hand. “Isn’t it pretty?”

“It’s very pretty,” John said in agreement. He sat next to Jack on the log and held out his hand. “Can I see it?”

“Sure!” Jack placed the blossom on John’s outstretched palm, and John took a closer look. “I think I’m going to make a necklace for Mommy. Do you think she’d like it?”

John chuckled, and handed the flower back. “I think she’d love it.” He thought for a moment on how he could turn this into some “bonding time” as Abigail called it. “Well, why don’t you teach me how to make one? We can both make her a necklace.”

“Great idea!” Jack said, beaming. “Maybe you could go into the trees. There are red flowers there. I can do the blue, you can do the red. Okay?”

Although John would’ve much rather just done another blue necklace, he agreed. “Alright. I’ll be right back.” He stood up off of the log, and walked into the nearest grove of trees.

Sure enough, there was a small patch of red flowers sitting in the middle of the grove. John got down on his knees and carefully picked them by the bottom of the stem until he had two whole handfuls of the flowers. “Can’t believe I’m doin’ this,” he mumbled under his breath. He stood up, and went back to Jack. “Got the flowers,” he said.

“Good! Now come here! I’ll show you how to make them,” Jack said cheerfully.

John followed the directions and sat on the log next to Jack. He watched his son’s nimble fingers as he tied stems together, creating a perfect flower necklace. “You understand?” Jack asked, looking at John with wide eyes.

“Uh,” John murmured, “I don’t think so. How do- how do you get them to attach?”

Jack laughed, and grabbed a few red flowers from John’s hands. “Do you know how to braid?” Jack asked.

John shook his head. “Can’t say that I do.” He caught Abigail’s eyes from a few tents away. She was smiling at him, actually smiling. John smiled back before looking down at Jack’s hands as he demonstrated how to do a braid.

“Now do you get it?”

“Think so. Let me try.” He managed to weave a few flowers together, before getting frustrated. His fingers were much better at loading revolvers or sharpening knives than making flower necklace. Still, he tried at it until it was done, with a little help from Jack.

“Done!” Jack said. He gleefully picked up his blue necklace, and held it up proudly. “Does it look nice?” 

“Looks lovely! Your ma will love it,” John said earnestly. He examined his red necklace, which looked shabby in comparison, and grinned at the sight. It felt nice, actually, doing something artistic and time-consuming with your hands. 

“Then let’s give them to her!” Jack jumped off the log and ran over to Abigail, carrying his necklace in his right hand. “Ma! Come look!”

John laughed as he followed Jack across camp to where Abigail stood. When he got to them, Abigail was leaning down to accept the flower crown from Jack. “This is beautiful, Jack! Did Daddy help you make this?”

“Nuh-uh! I made it myself. I helped Daddy make one, too,” Jack said proudly. John stepped forward with his little red necklace, and handed it to Abigail.

She smiled warmly at him, the kind of beautiful smile that lit up her eyes, too. John missed that smile dearly, and seeing it again made him glad he’d spent time with Jack. “That’s awful sweet, Jack. Both of you,” she murmured. “Awful sweet.”

Jack quickly thanked John for talking to him before running over to Tilly and watching her domino game with Arthur. John and Abigail were left alone, both standing shyly next to each other.

“Well uh, I’m glad you like it,” John said, about to turn away.

“Wait,” Abigail said. John turned back around, and took a step towards her. 

“Yes?” He questioned. “What is it?”

“Thank you... for spendin’ time with the boy. It means a lot to him, and...” she stepped forward, so that she and John were only a few inches apart. Slowly, she stood on her tip-toes, and planted a soft kiss to his cheek. Her eyes were gleaming as she took a step back. “It means a lot to me.”

“I- if it makes you so happy,” John said, a smile growing on his face. “Guess I’ll spend more time with the boy.”

“Would serve you right,” Abigail said teasingly. “Taking a break from being an outlaw to make flower necklaces.”

This got a solid laugh out of John as he backed away. “Shut up,” he joked, before turning his back and walking away with the sounds of Abigail’s laughter behind him.

Maybe fathering wasn’t so bad, after all.


End file.
